Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

KIM KITSURAGI — "Tell me about Satellite-Officer Vicquemare."

Rhetoric — Does he not remember you lost your memories?

Composure — And that Jean absolutely doesn't give you the light of day?

suggestion — You try to convey this to Kim by making a pitiful expression.

YOU — "I don't know anything besides the fact he hates me."

KIM KITSURAGI — "I don't believe that's true. I think he's just having a difficult time with you returning to work - as everyone is.

YOU — "Why's *he* having a hard time? *I'm* the one who got shot!"

authority — Because of outburst like that, making yourself the victim in situations.

empathy [FAILURE] — Oops.

YOU — "He doesn't hate you. Ask him whatever you want to know, he'll probably tell you.

KIM KITSURAGI — "On the contrary." Raising a single, gloved finger, he points it at you.

YOU — Blink.

KIM KITSURAGI — "*You* are the Human Can Opener."

YOU — "You want me to can open Jean? Why?"

KIM KITSURAGI — "To be frank with you, detective, I have a hunch about Officer Vicquemare and I feel like you're the best person to find the answer."

Savoir Faire — A puzzle. You like those.

Logic — Something seems funny.

KIM KITSURAGI — The detective laces his fingers together, the leather creaking nicely as they fit in place.

KIM KITSURAGI — "You tried to wring a secret out of me, correct? Try that."

YOU — "I don't think he smokes weed. But I wouldn't have guess it from you."

KIM KITSURAGI — "That was also years ago, mind you."

YOU — "And Jean's authority isn't as intense as yours."

KIM KITSURAGI — "Then it should be easy."

volition — Thought project incoming.

composure — Do we *have* to?

volition — T-10 seconds... nine... eight...

Pain threshold — Fuck yeah, bring it on. This feels like it's going to be a tough one.

volition — Seven... six... five...

half-light — FOURTHREETWOONE!!!

PROBLEM: Something’s … off about Jean. Aside from the fact he obviously doesn’t like who you’ve become - this new, healthy, somewhat-competent detective - there’s something deeper to his repressed emotions. As his partner and best friend, you should know everything about him. Regain his trust and figure out what you’re not seeing.

Temporary Research Bonuses: 

  +1 Esprit de Corps - he’s your brother.
  -2 Reaction Speed - can’t focus on work.

LOGIC — Does that seem like an oddly specific time to anyone else? 

INTERFACING — 55 hours and 35 minutes from right now is going to be 1800 on Friday.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Friday night! A countdown to get your drink on!

AUTHORITY — No. Friday night when Jean gets off shift. He has Saturday off.

VISUAL CALCULUS — Friday night, after clocking out, he will walk to his apartment alone, eat by himself, drink even though his doctors tell him it’ll interfere with his medication, sleep fitfully, go for a run in the morning and have his weekly therapy session where he’ll lie through his teeth for thirty minutes before going home. If the weather’s nice, he’ll stop by the bakery and do his laundry. If the weather’s bad, he’ll stay inside with a headache and stare at a wall for hours.

EMPATHY — This is a regular weekend routine for him. You used to occupy a lot of his time - both on and off the clock. Now that he doesn’t have someone to constantly worry about, he’s forced to put himself first and doesn’t enjoy it. 

HALF-LIGHT — You should start a fight and give him something to *actually* cry about and stop being a pussy.

RHETORIC — Let’s not. 

YOU — Internalize thought!

SUGGESTION — That’s new. Have thoughts always come with tasks?

INLAND EMPIRE [FAILURE] — Maybe. Probably. Sure. Let’s go with sure.

YOU — Cool, cool. What’s first on the list?

SAVOIR FAIRE — First we should let Kim know we’re starting the thought project, but exclude all the stuff about Jean’s depression.

YOU — “Okay, Kim, I’ll do it.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Hm?” The lieutenant has a portable radio on his desk, listening intently to a broadcast and has zoned you out. “Oh, good to hear. Let me know how things go.” 

  CAN-OPEN JEAN VICQUEMARE
  Filed - Wednesday 10:25

   - Talk to Jean

YOU — Leaving Kim, you sniff out Jean. 

PERCEPTION (SMELL) — Luckily, your nose doesn’t fail you, following the trail of Jean’s cologne by weaving through the desks until you find him by the coffee pot, *not* looking at you.

YOU — “Hey, Jean—”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Fuck off.”

SUGGESTION — Okay, try a different approach.

YOU — “Buddy, pal, partner—”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Host, you reek. Ever heard of a fucking shower?” 

PERCEPTION (SMELL) [FAILURE] — You do smell. Just a little.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — It’s musk! Nothing to be ashamed of. You have your own *odeur naturelle* while Jean has the store-bought kind. 

YOU — You take a whiff of the pits. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He shoves past you while you’re sniffing yourself and heads towards Trant’s desk, knowing you won’t follow him there.

AUTHORITY — Sneaky bastard. 

YOU — Well that was a bust. How much longer do I have on that countdown?

STEPPING ON EGGSHELLS — 55h 32m.

YOU — Yikes. 

RHETORIC — We should just give up. Kim can just talk to Jean himself. 

EMPATHY — It isn’t very nice to use your interrogation technique on your coworkers, also. As a general rule of thumb.

ENDURANCE — You only want to give up because you don’t know how to talk to him.

HALF-LIGHT [FAILURE]— Yeah, and?

VOLITION — You’ll disappoint Kim if you give up this soon.

YOU — You can’t pull the Kim card on me!

VOLITION — You pulled it on yourself. 

SUGGESTION — Go ask Kim about what it is he wants you to can open Jean about. 

INTERFACING — And while you’re here, get some coffee. 

EMPATHY — Get some for Kim, too. Then he’ll be a little more likely to answer your questions.

AUTHORITY — Question. Singular. He’s only going to be so lenient on you - make it count.

YOU — Fixing two cups of coffee, you hum a tune to yourself, formulating the best question to ask Kim. He’s the type of person who likes things straight to the point; no beating around the bush and certainly no pussyfooting.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Hah! *Pussyfooting.*

AUTHORITY — Grow up.

YOU — Snicker to yourself, just a little. 

KIM KITSURAGI — By the time he’s in your sights, he’s pulling a cup of coffee up to his lips, brought to him by a junior officer who had a report to drop off. 

BETRAYING JUNIOR OFFICER — “Good morning, lieutenant!” She nods in your direction, then continues her conversation with Kim while you stand like an idiot with two cups of coffee.

KIM KITSURAGI — In fact, you remain standing until the other officer leaves and Kim watches you, unmoving until he speaks up.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Thirsty, detective?” He asks, glancing between your occupied hands.

YOU — “Yeah. Can’t get enough of this shit. Totally beats alcohol. Yessir.” 

PERCEPTION (TASTE) — You take one of the cups and swig from it to prove how cool you are - a cool cop who drinks lots of hot coffee without flinching. 

PAIN THRESHOLD [FAILURE] — That was Kim’s coffee, which he takes black, compared to your coffee-with-your-creamer cup. 

SAVOIR FAIRE [SUCCESS] — But you school your reaction and don’t let Kim see how much you want to grimace at the taste of his bitter, bitter tasteless coffee.

EMPATHY [FAILURE] — His poor taste buds. They’ve never known happiness. 

YOU — You sit back at your desk and drink from your own cup, chasing away the lingering aftertaste. 

KIM KITSURAGI — Plugging in a pair of headphones, Kim adjusts the radio again and starts jotting things down with his head down.

LOGIC — He may as well have a giant sign that reads “DON’T BOTHER ME”.

DRAMA — Not that you’d obey it.

SUGGESTION — Find something else to do in the meantime. If you get some of your own work done, maybe he’ll answer *two* questions.

YOU — How’s that countdown? 

STEPPING ON EGGSHELLS – 55h 21m.

COMPOSURE — Fuuuuuuuck.

AUTHORITY — Here’s a suggestion: do some police work. It’ll pass the time and then you can talk with Kim.

SUGGESTION — I don’t encourage work, but he’s got a point.

YOU — Pull out your drawer, grab a pen and get to it.

 CAN-OPEN JEAN VICQUEMARE
 Filed - Wednesday 10:25

   - Talk to Jean
   - Talk to Kim

Chapter Text

KIM KITSURAGI — While you were burying yourself in your paperwork, Kim had set his headphones aside, having finished listening to his radio.

KIM KITSURAGI — "How are things coming along, detective?"

composure [FAILURE] — Fuck! Where'd he come from?!

Volition — Relax. He's been at his desk this entire time. You know that.

YOU — "Boring as shit."

KIM KITSURAGI — "Mm, yes, paperwork does tend to be tedious. Are you remembering how to fill out the forms?"

YOU — "I *know* what I'm doing, Kim."

KIM KITSURAGI — "My apologies - I hadn't intended for that to sound like you didn't."

endurance — *Do* you know what you're doing? Just in general.

Logic — No.

YOU — "I've gotten some reports done, so now I have some questions for you."

KIM KITSURAGI — "Are they related to the forms?"

drama — Of course not.

YOU — Your crooked grin answers his question.

KIM KITSURAGI — With a small sigh, he stands from his desk and pushes his chair in. "I have to return these headphones to Junior Office Mattea. Join me."

Reaction Speed — The betraying officer! How dare she!

KIM KITSURAGI — He's already heading towards the hall, not waiting for you.

composure — Chop chop!

YOU — Scrambling after him, you fall in step, trying to keep at his pace.

KIM KITSURAGI — "You get two questions."

Empathy — Even if you *are* the Can-Opener and the only one who has gotten to know the Lieutenant beyond his professional airs, he is also the one who met you on your first day in this new reality and can read you like the open book you are.

conceptualization — He's the only one who knows how to decipher the chicken scratch footnotes on the page.

drama — But don't think about that too much, lest you begin a new thought project.

YOU — How's that timer, anyway?

STEPPING ON EGGSHELLS — 53h 43m.

YOU — Not bad, making progress.

KIM KITSURAGI — "Detective?"

savoir faire [FAILURE] — Oh, oops. Wasn't paying attention.

YOU — "Why did you use a junior officer's headphones when you could've asked me?"

KIM KITSURAGI — He smiles at you in a way that makes you feel like you didn't need to ask because the answer is obvious but he's going to humor you, regardless.

KIM KITSURAGI — "I didn't want to disturb you."

pain threshold — Your headphones are also old and gross and broken and worse for wear. You mainly listen to things out loud whenever you manage to dig up the ol' radio.

KIM KITSURAGI — "That was one. Your next question?"

YOU — "Wait, what's not fair!"

KIM KITSURAGI — "You asked me a question, and I answered it. That's fair."

YOU — "Can I get a do over?"

KIM KITSURAGI — “No. And that makes two. Let’s go.”

rhetoric — This asshole! Being so smug about this, thinking he's so smart.

KIM KITSURAGI — As he leads you down the main stairwell, he lets out a barely perceptible sigh. 

KIM KITSURAGI — “I will allow a do over, but think it over carefully.”

JUNIOR OFFICERS — A majority of the kids stand and acknowledge you both; you finger-gun them and tell them to chillax. None of them look familiar to you, but some of those who didn’t stand are intentionally *not* looking at you. 

authority — You're the big cheese here, they should respect the badge! These kids probably don't even *have* a badge yet.

JUNIOR OFFICER MATTEA — “Oh, Lieutenants!” She doesn’t stand on account of the mountain of paperwork she’s balancing on her lap. 

YOU — You take a half step closer to help her manage it, but she politely shakes her head. 

JUNIOR OFFICER MATTEA — “Would you like me to take a look at those transcripts?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Whenever you get the chance.” He hands her the headphones and a stack of paper, his handwriting as legible as possible for her to read. “Thank you for letting me borrow these.”

JUNIOR OFFICER MATTEA — “Not a problem! I’ll look at these as soon as I get the chance.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Of course, take your time. I’d appreciate them by Thursday afternoon, if possible.”

JUNIOR OFFICER MATTEA — “Yessir!”

KIM KITSURAGI — He gives her a single nod then turns on his heel, where you follow him back out of the office. 

YOU — “Lunch?” You ask, pointing towards the main entrance, leading to the bustling streets of Jamrock.

KIM KITSURAGI — He thinks it over, glancing at his watch and ultimately decides he can sacrifice the time to eat.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Lead the way.”

SONNY DON’S DINER — You beat the lunch crowd, securing a booth that overlooks the street, giving you the opportunity to people-watch. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — You’re just a little ways away enough that the staff isn’t surprised by your presence, but RCM officers aren’t their main clientele, unlike other diners in the area. You frequent here for the large windows, painting a mural of the citizens - the good, the bad and the ugly of the city. 

VOLITION — You are always watching over the people here, subconsciously looking for ways you can help protect what you love in hopes someone will do the same for you one day.

SHIVERS — I will.

YOU — A chill runs down your spine, making you twitch. 

COMPOSURE — You don’t feel cold. 

RHETORIC — You feel warm, loved.

ENDURANCE [FAILURE] — It's the coffee. While you were spacing out, the waitress refilled your cup. She thought you really needed it. 

KIM KITSURAGI — He’s started on his meal - some sort of omelet loaded with vegetables. 

HALF LIGHT — Gross. He should at least douse that shit in hot sauce and give it a kick. 

YOU — You suggest it and he gives you a look. You drop it. 

SONNY DON’S DINER — You ordered the daily special, not knowing what it was and trusted your gut on it. It appears to be some sort of sandwich, loaded with meats and cheese and … is that a tapenade spread?

YOU — You add a casual amount of hot sauce to it before taking a bite, half the sandwich sliding out between the slices of bread.

KIM KITSURAGI — “It may be easier if you cut it in half.”

YOU — “I can handle a sandwich by myself, Kim.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Can you?”

INTERFACING — Apparently not.

YOU — Stubbornly, you try to eat the sandwich, frankly making a mess while your partner watches patiently. 

KIM KITSURAGI — “Have you thought of a second question?”

YOU — “Yeah. Tell me about this *hunch* you have about Jean.”

DRAMA — Wasn’t phrased as a question, but he lets it pass.

KIM KITSURAGI — “The Human Can Opener, cheating?”

YOU — “It’s not cheating. I just want to know what I need to be looking for. I think Jean will know if I’m trying to can open him so I need to be careful about it.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “I see.” Dabbing his mouth with a napkin, he considers his choice of words.

KIM KITSURAGI — “I’m curious about his life outside of the office. Things he enjoys on his own time.”

RHETORIC — There’s more to it than that. 

YOU — “He likes working out, going for runs, being by himself because he’s a dickwad—”

KIM KITSURAGI — “That’s public knowledge about Lieutenant Vicquemare. Think it over, detective. I know you’ll find the right questions when the time comes.”

EMPATHY — He’s capable of talking to Vicquemare, Kim thinks. He’s pulled assumptions out of thin air and wrung the truth out of people before they realize what he’s doing. If anyone can unbox the Satellite-Officer, it’s Harry.

AUTHORITY— We can’t let Kim down now, can we?

KIM KITSURAGI — After lunch, he decides to go for a walk. While he doesn’t explicitly say it, you get the feeling he wants some alone time.

VOLITION — Check on him later. 

JUDIT MINOT — On your way back, you catch a glimpse of Judit on the walkway.

YOU — “Hey, Jude!”

SHIVERS — Don’t make it bad.

JUDIT MINOT — She acknowledges you with a slight hand wave, obviously too far away to reply to you without shouting. 

SUGGESTION — After you, Judit is probably the closest to Jean. She would know. 

LOGIC — She is also likely to *tell* Jean you were asking about him. Be cautious.

ENDURANCE — Hustle those buns to catch her while you still can!

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — You steam those hams and make it back to the C-Wing not a second too late to intercept her on her way back to her desk.

YOU — “Hey, Jude.”

DRAMA — Don’t be afraid.

EMPATHY [FAILURE] — She is, just a little. Being crowded by you is typically not a good thing.

JUDIT MINOT — “Yes?”

YOU —

 1. EMPATHY] – “Do I really scare you?”

 2. [AUTHORITY] – “I need you to tell me everything you know about Jean.”

 3. Wait, why would she know so much about him?

LOGIC — Because they’re friends.

VOLITION — Out of everyone in the MCU, he took her to go to the Whirling and check on you, even leaving Mack and Chester in charge, despite that being a terrible idea. He values her presence and support. 

YOU — Isn’t she married?

PAIN THRESHOLD — Men and women can just be friends. Stop thinking with your dick.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — She’s wearing her wedding ring right now, on her bony finger. 

YOU —

 1. [EMPATHY] – “Do I really scare you?”

 2. [AUTHORITY] – “I need you to tell me everything you know about Jean.”

 3. Wait, why would she know so much about him?

 4. “Do you know where Jean is?”

JUDIT MINOT — For a moment, she looks surprised that you’re asking, as if you should know already, before remembering you had a whole amnesia episode. 

DRAMA — Thy lady is one of the few who actually believed you. She defended you back in the fishing village.

YOU — I see why Vic likes her.

JUDIT MINOT — “He’s downstairs, in one of the interrogation rooms.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — Satellite-Officer Jean Vicquemare sighs and taps his finger on the table. Across from him, a scrawny teenager with more piercings than teeth refuses to talk. It’s too early for Jean to break out his bad cop techniques, so he’s hoping to exhaust the kid first, but he’s only talking to a brick wall.

YOU — 

 1. [EMPATHY] – “Do I really scare you?”

 2. [AUTHORITY] – “I need you to tell me everything you know about Jean.”

 3. Wait, why would she know so much about him?

 4. "Do you know where Jean is?”

AUTHORITY [FAILURE] — Speaking of, you accidentally use your ‘start talking or I’ll rip your nails out’ voice.

YOU — I have that?!

HALF LIGHT — You’re using it right now.

YOU — “Tell me everything you know about Jean. Right. Now.”

JUDIT MINOT — “Pardon?”

YOU — “You heard me. Start talking.”

JUDIT MINOT — “Harry…”

AUTHORITY — She’s avoiding the question!

YOU — “I’m not playing around, Minot. As your superior, I order you to—”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Officer.”

RHETORIC — Busted.

JUDIT MINOT — She’s relieved Kim is back, and after you’ve turned around she escapes and goes to her desk, not looking up at you.

HALF LIGHT — No wonder she’s scared of you.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Is there a problem?”

YOU —

 1. “Not at all!” (Lie.)

 2. “No, why?”

 3. [EMPATHY] “Do *you* have a problem?”

EMPATHY [FAILURE]— Now really isn’t the time to check on how he’s doing, and it comes out unnecessarily aggressive. 

PSYCHICAL INSTRUMENT — You should start throwing hands. Violence is always the answer.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Perhaps I should’ve invited you for a walk - that seems to calm you down.”

AUTHORITY — What are you, a dog?!

ELECTROCHEMISTRY [FAILURE]— Yeah. 

YOU — “Sorry. I got too worked up.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “I saw. Why don’t we go back to our desks, hm?”

ENDURANCE — Pulling your leash around like the dog you are.

YOU — Woof.

KIM KITSURAGI — Returning to his desk, you trail behind and look back to the papers you had left out.

STACK OF PAPERWORK — You abandoned it mid-word. 

ENCYCLOPEDIA — It’s an autopsy report. You were making corrections after forensics came back, revealing the victim had OD’d *before* jumping.

VISUAL CALCULUS — Not a pretty sight.

INLAND EMPIRE — He didn’t jump because he was a suicidal addict; he was overdosing and in a panic, his friend pushed him off the roof they were squatting on and framed it as a suicide. 

INTERFACING — Something that was so routine for them went wrong so fast. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — Closing the door to the interrogation room behind him, Jean Vicquemare paces down the hall and to the bathroom, where he stares at his reflection, suddenly feeling nauseous. That could’ve been Harry, he thinks. One day, just like any other, it could’ve been over. 

SHIVER — When you die, who will be at your side?

PAIN THRESHOLD — No one. Only memories. 

YOU — Can we get back to the original plot, please?

STACK OF PAPERWORK — You should go tell Jean your thoughts. 

VOLITION — About the pushing, not the part about you dying alone. 

STACK OF PAPERWORK — It also wouldn’t hurt to finish the word you were writing over an hour ago.

YOU — You finish the sentence, then collect all your pages and briefly look over at Kim.

KIM KITSURAGI — He sees your motion out of the corner of his eye, takes you in and returns to his work. 

EMPATHY — Whatever he’s up to must be good. He’s focused. Trust him.

JUDIT MINOT — Her desk is on the way to the interrogation rooms. 

SUGGESTION — Apologize to her. 

ENDURANCE — We can’t stop this train now. She’ll have to wait. 

REACTION SPEED — As you pass her desk, you tap two fingers to the wood. A small gesture to let her know you’re thinking of her. It’ll have to do for now. 

DRAMA — It does. 

HALF LIGHT — Pushing through the doors to exit the C-Wing, something compels you to turn right instead of left. 

YOU — The break room? I just had lunch.

RHETORIC — Look closer. 

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — Right before the threshold to the break room is a supply closet.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Open it.

VOLITION — This guy suggesting things isn’t a good idea.

INTERFACING — Don’t worry, buddy, I’ll back you up. 

YOU — Try the doorknob.

SUPPLY CLOSET — It’s jammed.

INTERFACING — Wiggle it?

YOU — Wiggle the doorknob a little.

SUPPLY CLOSET — Doesn’t wiggle, even a bit.

INTERFACING [FAILURE] — Sorry.

AUTHORITY — We were supposed to go tell Vic about our breakthrough realization, remember? Gain his trust again and figure out what Kim wants us to can open about him?

REACTION SPEED — Win him back.

DRAMA — Win *her* back.

COMPOSURE — Nope! Nope nope nope we aren’t doing this today. Walk away from the fucking door, Harry.

YOU — Walk away from the fucking door and actually go to your destination.

CAN-OPEN JEAN VICQUEMARE
 Filed - Wednesday 10:25

LOGIC — Not all of those are related. Are you just tacking things onto this list?

YOU — We don’t know they’re *not* related.

PERCEPTION (SMELL) — While we’re at it, add taking a shower. You’re still a little musky.

AUTHORITY [FAILURE] — Don’t worry about it. You smell like a hard-working detective who sweats a lot. Totally normal. 

YOU — Resist the temptation to do another sniff check, even if you feel self conscious about it now.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — You spot his long shadow walking before you see him. He’s leaving the bathroom and heading back to the holding cells.

YOU — He was in the bathroom the entire time?!

HALF LIGHT — Mind your own business, Mr Jerks Off In The Locker Room.

VOLITION — That’s *jerked* off, past tense, thank you very much.

INLAND EMPIRE — Like the halves you are, he came to the same realization about the victim at the same time you did. It shook him up a little. He threw up in the sink, chewed four pieces of gum and splashed his face with cold water at the same time you fucked around with the door and made it down to the basement. 

SAVOIR FAIRE — You whistle something quiet and familiar. From down the hall, Jean stops and turns around. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He looks at you for just a moment too long, like he’s run into an old stranger he’s trying to place where he knows them from.

ENDURANCE [FAILURE]— Ouch. 

AUTHORITY — He’s thinking about the tune, not you. 

ENCYCLOPEDIA — It was the ending credits theme to a pulp radio station you two listened to. Simply titled “Pulp Fictions”, every week featured a new story that followed the exact same storyline. Protagonist, antagonist, twist, reveal, end. Every week it was the same thing but you listened to it habitually, regardless. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — September of ‘49, Jean Vicquemare was sitting at home, arm in a sling after someone rushed him and dislocated his shoulder. You surprise him by dropping by earlier than you said to make him dinner, bringing along your radio.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Seriously, Harry?” “What? There’s no way you’re missing an episode. This week it’s going to be something different, I can feel it.”

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Spoiler: It wasn’t.

DRAMA — But that wasn’t the point.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “What’s with all this food? Planning on feeding the whole fucking building?” Jean watches you bang pots around and shove ingredients into his fridge. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “If you’re gonna be stuck in this hell hole for a week, might as well have some actual food so I don’t have to keep checking to make sure you’re eating. Now turn the show on and shut up.”

RHETORIC — You fail to mention that you were suspended for a couple days after what you did to the guy who attacked Jean. He’ll find out months later. 

YOU — Someone hurt my partner, of course I had to beat his ass.

HALF LIGHT — Oh, you did more than beat his ass, buddy. You’re lucky you only got the rest of the week off and not any serious repercussions. 

AUTHORITY — At the end of the day, you arrested someone for assaulting an officer and later found illegal weapons on him. Things turned out alright, all things considered. A slap on the wrist wasn’t bad. 

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — That night at Jean’s apartment you swiped some of his pills after dinner. You don’t remember much else after that.

VISUAL CALCULUS [FAILURE]— That’s all that happened. Nothing that altered your relationship together. Just another night hanging out with your buddy. Yup.

YOU — That’s suspicious.

REACTION SPEED — Hey, you know what else is suspicious? The fact you’ve been spacing out after you clearly were trying to get Jean’s attention. 

YOU — “He didn’t jump,” you blurt out.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He’s looking directly at you. 

HAND-EYE COORDINATION — He’s no more than ten meters away from you, but it feels like you’re standing right in front of him, his grey eyes holding you captive. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “It was an accident.” He knows exactly where you’re going with this.

YOU — You nod. “Your kid panicked and pushed the victim.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “He’s not talking.”

YOU — “He just pushed his best friend off a building, Vic, of course he doesn’t want to talk about it.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “If he hadn’t, the victim still would’ve died from the overdose. So why’d he do it?”

YOU — What aren’t we seeing?

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Think of the pulp stories. They were never just cut and dry, there was always some twist that you could see a mile away. Protagonist (victim), antagonist (suspect), twist (not a suicide), reveal (?), end. 

YOU — But what if that’s not the twist?

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What are you thinking, Mullen?”

ENCYCLOPEDIA [FAILURE] — Dick Mullen would’ve already had this figured out and be balls deep in some broad while you’re doing what, reminiscing about doing drugs with your partner with your hand on your dick? 

AUTHORITY — Get a grip, man. Think. THINK!

YOU — 

   1. [ELECTROCHEMISTRY] - Was there something about the drugs?
   + drug addict
   - past you

   2. [CONCEPTUALIZATION]- Figure out the missing piece.
   + remembered the pulps

   3. Ask Jean what he thinks

   4. “I’ll get back to you on that” (Leave).

YOU — “First, what are you thinking?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “I think he’s not talking to protect someone else.”

YOU — “What makes you say that?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Something just isn’t adding up. They weren’t the only two living on that roof.”

YOU — “Has anyone interviewed any of the other residents?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Everyone booked it once we showed up.”

YOU — “Let’s go check it out again. Give that kid some time to think things over.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He gives you a funny look. 

YOU — Why?

VOLITION — *Technically,* this isn’t your case. He was assigned it by himself because it seemed so simple. 

YOU — Then why was I filling out his forms?

LOGIC — Habit. It’s not uncommon for officers to take messy notes that need to be redone. Eventually they’re typed and submitted for the records, then moved into archives. You were just updating his with new information before processing them. 

COMPOSURE — He’s also a little hesitant due to the nature of the crime scene.

ENDURANCE — Who does he think I am, some kind of pansy? I can handle a crime scene!

RHETORIC — I’m just saying: he’s not thrilled about taking you to a rooftop where some speedfreak plummeted from, either accidental or intentional. 

HALF LIGHT — It won’t be the first time the two of you have been in that situation.

YOU — “On second thought, you go check it out. I’ll talk to the kid.”

EMPATHY — You almost miss it, but he relaxes just a bit. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Okay.” Inhale, exhale. “Okay. Sounds good, partner.”

AUTHORITY — Atta boy. Just like the good ol’ days. 

VOLITION — To top it off, he’s going to toss you the keys to the interrogation room like the badass cop he is. 

YOU — C’mon baby, come to papa.

HAND-EYE COORDINATION [FAILURE]— Papa can’t catch for shit. They clatter to the ground and you look pathetically down at them.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Good going, dumbass.” He elbows you when he crouches to pick them up and dangles them in front of you. 

INTERFACING — You snatch them and still look kinda cool doing it. 

YOU — “Let me know what you find out.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Same to you, shitkid.” With a strong hand, he pats your shoulder as he walks by.

PERCEPTION (HEARING) — As you stand alone in the now desolate hallway, you just barely catch what sounds like Jean whistling.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Completing the song.

DRAMA — Roll credits!

Chapter Text

YOU — Can I get a timecheck please?

SUGGESTION — Don’t you have a watch?

INTERFACING — We used to. Now it’s broken and kicked under the bed. 

VOLITION — Cool. Anyway it’s currently rolling around to 17:00, meaning there is still another 49 odd hours to that big thought project of yours.

RHETORIC — Godspeed. 

YOU — And have I made any progress with Jean?

HALF LIGHT — Why the fuck are you asking *us*? 

YOU — Don’t you guys like… keep track of these things?

SAVOIR FAIRE— That’s your job, Harry. 

CONCEPTUALIZATION — You’ve categorized your thoughts and impulses into 24 voices in your head - not including the inanimate objects and abstract concepts you have conversations with - and yet you’re still asking us to keep tabs on your personal affairs?

YOU — Uhm. Yes. Isn’t there a guy specifically designated for that?

EMPATHY [FAILURE]— No.

YOU — Okay. Let’s get out of my head. 

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Oh, so it’s *your* head now! What about *us*? Isn’t this a group effort? 

DRAMA — Get this lossser out of here. 

YOU — Get kicked out of your own head.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Everything alright, detective? You look like you’re about to pass out again.”

YOU — “I might’ve had a mini aneurysm.” 

KIM KITSURAGI — He studies you for a moment, trying to gauge if you’re being dramatic or in need of serious medical attention. 

YOU — “But I’m a-okay okie-doke now. Never better. Aneurysm who? I don’t know her.” 

KIM KITSURAGI — That didn’t do much to persuade him you’re fine, but he drops the topic.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Officer Vicquemare called your desk while you were away. He said he wouldn’t be back at the station tonight, and that he’ll have to go over his findings with you in the morning.”

YOU — 

   1. "Is he ignoring me?"
   2. "Did something happen?"
   3. "Did he find something?"

KIM KITSURAGI — “He seemed interested in comparing notes tomorrow, actually, so I find it hard to believe he’s ignoring you - he even called to let you know specifically he wouldn’t be around.”

YOU —

   1. "Is he ignoring me?"
   2. "Did something happen?
   3. "Did he find something?"

KIM KITSURAGI — “He didn’t say. I believe he called from a payphone. Must be out investigating something and got too tied up.”

YOU —

   1. "Is he ignoring me?"
   2. "Did something happen?"
   3. "Did he find something?

KIM KITSURAGI — “If he did, he didn’t share it with me. Are you two working on something?”

YOU —

   1. "Is he ignoring me?"
   2. "Did something happen?"
   3. "Did he find something?
   4. What is Jean really doing?

SHIVERS — Sitting on his ankles, Jean Vicquemare cuts the shape of a gargoyle on top of the building, the wind whipping his coat around him. 

YOU — What else?

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He went around and did more interviews, but the tenants were less willing to speak to him for a second time, especially when he came during the rain like an ill omen. At this moment, he’s looking at the ledge, trying to think about what happened. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — Professionally, he knows you’d be able to just sniff the air and know exactly what happened and how, and then the two of you would piece together the evidence to back up your hunch. Personally, he’s a little worried this will somehow trigger something in you. Your memories seem to come back in random intervals of intensity with bizarre triggers, and this isn’t something he wants to waken if it doesn’t need to be.

YOU — He can figure it out on his own. I’ve trained him well.

SHIVERS — Too well. The ledge is too close, too tempting, and *just* the right height.

YOU — He’s not…

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — No no, of course not. He has a stronger will than you. His voices are loud, but he’s learned to tune them out. 

RHETORIC — Whereas you listen and follow those impulses. 

SHIVERS — Jean is listening to his voices right now. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — As if breaking out of a trance, he realizes where his focus had set on, then gets up and finishes poking around on the roof before descending slowly and sanely down the stairs. He calls your desk at the payphone and Kim picks up. Something inside of him hurts and he thinks about the dry spot that his body left on the roof, sitting in the rain for so long. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — After asking Kim to pass along a message, Jean lights a cigarette and walks home to shower and go over his findings.

YOU — Fuck.

AUTHORITY — It’s okay. While he may be a depressed asshole, he’s not a suicidal asshole.

LOGIC — That’s you.

SUGGESTION — Yeah, anyway.

CAN-OPEN JEAN VICQUEMARE
 Filed — Wednesday 10:25

VOLITION — I’m still not sure that last one is related to the rest.

INTERFACING — Me neither, actually.

HALF LIGHT — Pussy.

YOU — Who can we ask about Jean? 

EMPATHY — You kind of dropped the ball with Judit, so I’d wait on her until *after* you apologize. 

SUGGESTION — Or you could apologize right now. That’s pretty important.

YOU — Where is Judit, anyway?

PERCEPTION — In the break room, talking with one of the patrol officers about routes and shifts. Even on her downtime, she’s watching out for the city.

YOU — Now might not be a good time.

MACK TORSON — The Torso walks through your line of sight, balancing two plates of reheated leftovers and his paperwork, whistling as he weaves through the desks.

YOU — “Hey, Mack!”

MACK TORSON — “Yo!” Turning his head, he gives you a grin, then continues walking to his desk. “How’s it hangin’, Mullen?”

YOU — “I need to ask you something - in private.”

CHESTER MCLAINE — “Shit out of luck. We’ve got Pryce on our ass and we need to finish this report.” 

CHESTER MCLAINE — Chester, with his feet kicked up, is twirling a pen between his fingers, the cap suffering the abuse of his molars. Mack, setting the food down, has taken both plates for himself, swatting Chester’s hand away when it goes to pick. 

YOU — “What’s the report?”

MACK TORSON — “Remember that stabbing at the school near the Pox?”

RHETORIC — How could you forget? 

MACK TORSON — “The kid died, so we have to update everything.”

INLAND EMPIRE — A single mother mourns her son, holding his cold hand in hers. At the wrong place at the wrong time, he was only 12. Cause of death is officially cardiac arrest, brought from years of drug abuse and a traumatic event that worked his body too hard. 

SHIVERS — He was our son and we failed him. 

YOU — Shake your hands to get the cold chill out of you. 

CHESTER MCLAINE — “Poor kid,” he tuts, bringing his feet down to the floor with a thud. “Technically speaking, it’s not a homicide - he died because of complications from the stabbing.”

MACK TORSON — “We’re still gonna get those punks for the assault, though. It’s the least we can do.”

YOU — “I’ll leave you to it, then. Good work, boys.”

CHESTER MCLAINE — He snorts and rolls his eyes. “Are you feeling alright, Tequila? You’re actually acting like a half-decent guy.”

VOLITION — Ouch. Were you really *that* shitty?

YOU — “Fine. Do your fucking work, pipsqueak, before I sic Vic on your ass for goofing around.”

MACK TORSON — “Pipsqueak!” He howls with laughter, elbowing his partner. Chester seems pleased at your change in tone, even if he didn’t really appreciate the pipsqueak comment.

YOU — That’s what he gets for fucking with Tequila. 

CHESTER MCLAINE — “Uh oh, I’m in trouble if you’re gonna send daddy on me.”

YOU — “Wait, Daddy?”

CHESTER MCLAINE — “Y’know, Vic. He’s got a real stick in his ass and loves taking it out on others like some abusive father.”

MACK TORSON — “A real dysfunctional family we’ve got here.”

YOU — “Does that mean I’m mommy?”

COMPOSURE — Okay. While that was a legitimate question following the theme of you and Jean being *a thing*, and since he’s *daddy* you have to be *mommy*, but also the fact you just asked out loud if you were mommy was, to be frank, really fucking embarrassing. 

DRAMA  — We can recover from this, my liege! Do not fret!

CHESTER MCLAINE — A little late for that. They’re causing a huge commotion with their laughter about your comment. Chester looks like he’s about ready to piss his pants, slapping the desk with an open palm. 

YOU — Slip away unnoticed and hope they’ll forget about this later.

INTERFACING — They won’t, but you did manage to escape, albeit with your tail between your legs.

KIM KITSURAGI — While you’re on your ungraceful retreat, Kim spots you and waves you over. 

RHETORIC — He overheard everything, by the way, but is choosing to not mention it. Don’t fuck it up.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Junior Officer Mattea returned my notes to me. Would you like to go over them together?”

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Fag time!

VOLITION — Daily smoke at the end of the day.

YOU — “Time to drag on a fag, eh?” 

KIM KITSURAGI — He doesn’t find your comment particularly funny but doesn’t seem upset about it. Chalks it up to the hyper masculine workplace humor, especially after an interaction with Torson and McLaine. 

HALF LIGHT — Yeah, well, he should learn to take a joke. 

YOU — Follow Kim out to the balcony and watch him light up. 

KIM KITSURAGI — “I had a phone call recorded from inside our dead man’s apartment to someone with a Mesque extension. Junior Officer Mattea was nice enough to transcribe it for me because I’m out of practice in understanding Mesque.” 

PERCEPTION — He holds out a few papers stapled together, a girl’s neat handwriting covering the pages. 

KIM KITSURAGI — “Look it over when you get the chance. Tomorrow we should revisit the apartment and look for any clues.”

YOU — “Sí, señor.” 

KIM KITSURAGI — As he continues to smoke in silence, you step away from the edge and start flipping through the pages, though you’re more or less *looking* at it and not *reading*. 

YOU — “Can I take this home? To look it over.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Of course. Please don’t lose it.”

YOU — “What, you don’t trust me?”

KIM KITSURAGI — He does not answer.

YOU — Ouch.

KIM KITSURAGI — Snubbing the smoke out on the bottom of his boot, he holds the door open for you and you tip your imaginary cap at him. He goes right back to his desk, but something keeps you lingering behind.

VOLITION — It’s not that fucking door again, is it?

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “A radio?” Kim Kitsuragi, sitting on his heels, pulls a radio out from a drawer. The desk he now sits at had been unoccupied for such a long time that you began stashing things away in it - empty bottles of booze, baggies swiped from the evidence lockers, and the portable radio, out of juice and you were too lazy to replace the batteries.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Oh.” Picking it up, Jean Vicquemare pops open the back and digs out the dead batteries, turning them over in his hand. “I probably have these at home.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Is that so?” Wiping out the inside of the now empty drawer, Kim only briefly glances up. “It doesn’t seem like anyone here will miss it.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “I’ll take it home, then.” Setting it on his own desk, Jean continues to help Kim clean the desk out before moving his belongings in. He won’t mention that some of the shit he was throwing away was his mess just as much as it was yours, though he has a suspicion Kim knows, somehow.

VOLITION — This was never mentioned to you. If you didn’t remember it was there, then it didn’t matter that it was gone now.

YOU — I want that radio back. 

RHETORIC — Take it up with Jean. 

SUGGESTION  — I don’t think that is a good idea. Maybe wait. 

YOU — But…

MACK TORSON — “Hey, Tequila! Didya fall asleep standing again?”

YOU — Blinking back to your body, you turn towards the offending voice and open your mouth to retort when you’re cut off.

CHESTER MCLAINE — “Shit! Shit! Pryce just turned his light off! He’s gonna come for our asses!” 

YOU — Like a bunch of cockroaches, those of you lingering around with your thumbs up your asses disperse back to your stations only for the captain to walk right by, not even looking towards your group of desks. 

EMPATHY — He’s exhausted. The kind that won’t go away, no matter how much he sleeps. Considering there’s no yelling matches going on, he’s not concerned about you lot right now. Be grateful. Do some work and show he doesn’t have to check on you like a group of misbehaving children in timeout. 

YOU — Since you already ran back to your desk, might as well read over that report Kim handed you.

PERCEPTION — The words still aren’t making it to your brain, especially when Kim turns off your lamp to get your attention.

KIM KITSURAGI — “I can tell your mind is elsewhere tonight.”

COMPOSURE — You’ve been staring at the same page for at least 30 minutes now. He was being nice and letting you space out but it’s been a little too long to just sit around. 

KIM KITSURAGI — “Why don’t I drive you home.”

YOU — Mindlessly, you throw your things together and follow him to the garages and to his Kineema that he repainted to read 41. It roars like a beast waking up and Kim seems unabashedly proud at that. 

KIM KITSURAGI — Dropping you off in front of your building, he waits in the vehicle until he sees the door close behind you, then drives into the night. 

YOU — Running on muscle memory, you get to your place, grab a tray of leftovers to eat cold at the table, smoke, fuck around and then eventually get into bed.

BED — It’s lumpy and smells but so are you. 

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Hey, man, what the fuck happened? Why are you so sluggish?

DRAMA — Thinking about himself before he lost his memories makes him sad, sometimes. He’s emotional.

HALF LIGHT — He’s a pussy is what he is. 

VOLITION — It’s okay, buddy. Close your eyes and don’t get any sleep and wake up feeling bad again like you do every night. 

YOU — Close your eyes and wait until you eventually fall asleep.

KIM KITSURAGI — “How hard is it for you to read a piece of paper?”

YOU — “Huh?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Are you stupid? Did you suddenly forget how to read?”

YOU — “What are you talking about?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Everyone was right, you are a shit detective. You were much better when you were an alcoholic. At least then you had an excuse.”

YOU — “Kim—”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “The puppy eyes again. Do you really think acting like the victim is going to help?”

YOU — “Wait, Jean.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Don’t give me that. I’m not your partner anymore, remember? Your sad sack of shit song and dance won’t work on me anymore. I’m glad Kim saw through it much faster than I did and won’t waste five fucking years of his life on you like I did.”

YOU — “You can’t do this to me.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Oh, I can’t? Are you going to tell me you’re getting better and I should just wait it out?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “He’s not going to get better.”

DORA INGERLUND — “He never will. He’ll always be this sad, sick man who will die alone.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Not fast enough.”

YOU — “Stop it! STOP IT!!”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Why don’t you do the world a favor and—”

YOU — Wake up.

PAIN THRESHOLD — Rise and shine, buttercup! Your heart is beating dangerously fast after that nightmare. Lucky for you, oxygen is still going to your brain and you aren’t at risk of a heart attack.

ENDURANCE — Not tonight, at least. You live another day!

YOU — What the fuck was that about?!

ENCYCLOPEDIA — While there is no definite answer as to *why* we dream, there are a few theories: a reflection of our waking life; a way to deal with any unsettling thoughts and emotions we’re unable to process fully while conscious; a connection between the pattern of the past and present in order to prepare us for the future; and a way to store memories.

YOU — So you’re telling me that’s *going* to happen?

LOGIC [FAILURE]  — Pretty much, yeah.

REACTION SPEED — Don’t worry about it. You’ve got tough skin and tougher fists if you need to fight your way out. 

YOU — Get out of bed, shower, change the sweaty sheets, light a cigarette and try not to cry.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — Sitting on the edge of his bed with his fists balled and pressed into his eyes, Jean-Heron fantasizes about taking a spoon, scooping out his eyeballs and jamming his fingers into the empty sockets.

VISUAL CALCULUS [FAILURE] — Gross.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — No matter how dark his room is, no matter how well he covers his ears, it will always be too bright, too loud for him to rest. Running on only a few hours of sleep a night and spending his waking time working has begun to give him migraines again but he doesn’t have any extra time off. Not if he wants to pay rent, that is. 

YOU — Is this related to me at all?

RHETORIC — No, you narcissist. *Your* developing headache is due to your own nightmare. Jean has his own shit to deal with, he’s not worried about you right now.

EMPATHY — But he is thinking about you, just a little. You’ve been with him on nights like this before and a small part of him wishes you were here now, only to make him feel less alone. 

YOU — I should call him.

LOGIC — No, asshole, did you miss the part where he has a migraine? He’ll kill you.

SHIVERS — Call him. Remind him he’s not alone. He’s not listening but he’ll listen to you.

INTERFACING — You don’t even realize you have dialed until the receiver is settled against your ear, ringing.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He picks up after two rings and hisses. “What the fuck do you want?”

YOU — 

   1. “How’d you know it was me?”
   2. “Sorry for calling so late.”
   3. “I had a bad dream.”
   4. Offer advice.
   5. Hang up.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Everyone else has the decency to wait until morning.” His voice is quiet, like it hurts to speak any louder than a raspy whisper.

YOU —

   1. “How’d you know it was me?”
   2. “Sorry for calling so late.”
   3. “I had a bad dream.”
   4. Offer advice.
   5. Hang up.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Congratulations.”

YOU —

   1. “How’d you know it was me?”
   2. “Sorry for calling so late.”
   3. “I had a bad dream.”
   4. Offer advice.
   5. Hang up.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “And I’m already sorry I picked up. What do you want?”

YOU —

   1. “How’d you know it was me?”
   2. “Sorry for calling so late.”
   3. “I had a bad dream.”
   4. Offer advice.
   5. Hang up.

YOU — “Coffee beans.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What?”

YOU — “Coffee beans. Do you have any?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “You did not seriously call me for coffee beans.”

YOU — “Sucking on coffee beans will help get rid of your migraine. It’s raw caffeine and will get your blood pumping faster to your brain.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He pauses for a second. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

YOU — “Put a cold cloth on your head, too. Take care of yourself, Jean.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “I can handle myself just fine.”

YOU — “Did you take anything? Eat?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Fuck you. Stop trying to baby me.”

YOU — “Hey, motherfucker, don’t make me come over there.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Oh, I’d love to see you try. If you get stabbed by some junkies on the way over, that’s on you.”

YOU — “I’ll bring them with. How many guys do you think you can take at once?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He laughs at that.

DRAMA — He laughed! Good job!

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Goodnight, asshole.”

YOU — “I mean in a fight, for the record, not—”

PERCEPTION — He hangs up before you can finish.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — He could probably take a few guys outside of a fight, too, if ya know what I mean.

PAIN THRESHOLD — Now that your mind and body are more at ease, you should get some sleep, champ, before your alarm goes off in a few hours.

BED — It’s still lumpy, but the sheets are fresh and not sweaty. 

SHIVERS — In another part of Jamrock, a bed where a restless body had been sitting is now empty, its host reluctantly searching his pantry for coffee beans to suck on. While you’re a madman, a small part of him hopes you’re right and this will help his pain. Worst case scenario, he just looks stupid. Best case scenario, he looks stupid but won’t want to dig his eyes out and can maybe rest for an hour.

LOGIC — Four guys is probably his limit, for the record. Five if he’s feeling ambitious. 

YOU — In a fight, or—

BED — Goodnight, asshole. 

YOU — Close your eyes and wait for your alarm to go off.

Chapter Text

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Rise and shine, Harry-boy! 

HALF LIGHT — Time to grab the day by the balls and get this shit going!

VOLITION — There will be no ball grabbing. 

RHETORIC — Says you. I, for one, support the notion.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — What better way to start the day than a good jerk off sesh? Stick your hand down there and let’s party!

YOU — Why are we grabbing *my* balls?

ENDURANCE — You want to grab other men’s balls? Not very hetero-sexual of you, bud.

DRAMA — It’s been too long since you’ve touched someone else intimately; balls or not.

SAVOIR FAIRE — You can have all the balls in the world if you put your mind to it. 

INLAND EMPIRE — The damp spot in your boxers is proof enough that your imagination still works.

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Would you like some help? You have a backlog of repressed fantasies just waiting to be tapped into.

UNCOMFORTABLY DAMP BOXERS — We can spare a few minutes, can’t we? You won’t take long.

YOU — That makes me want to jerk off less.

UNCOMFORTABLY DAMP BOXERS — Could be worse: you could not finish at all.

YOU — That’s true.

YOU —

   1. Jerk off
       + healthy for you
       + there's still enough time

   2. Don't jerk off
       - bullied by voices in your head
       + semen retention

YOU [FAILURE] — You stick your hand in your underwear but your mind blanks on anything to think about and you suddenly become aware of how clammy your hands are. 

UNCOMFORTABLY DAMP BOXERS — Yeah, this is just gross now. Please stop.

YOU — Get up, get dressed, try not to feel lame.

ENDURANCE — No, that was pretty pathetic. 

RHETORIC [FAILURE] — You should think about how pathetic your dick is for the rest of the day. It’ll be humbling for you. Definitely more important than anything else you have going on. 

YOU — Walk to work and whistle a little tune.

SAVOIR FAIRE [FAILURE] — Sorry, what? Couldn’t focus over the shame of your sad little—

AUTHORITY — Alright, alright, we get it! Sorry for having a cringe penis. Can we *please* move on from this?

INLAND EMPIRE — At least the old silk mill is happy to see you. The people inside, not as much. 

SUGGESTION — We’ve got a busy schedule today, time to get started on that to-do list!

DRAMA — Your desk and partner await thee.

YOU — “Why is my dick so pathetic, Kim?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Good morning.” He hands you a cup of coffee and does not react to your question. “Did you have the time to look over those notes?”

REACTION SPEED — Fuck!

YOU — Fuck!

RHETORIC — Just tell him you did. He already knows you have a pathetic dick, do you want him thinking you’re not doing your work now?

SAVOIR FAIRE — You literally had a nightmare about this last night. Tell him the truth.

YOU —

   1. Lie to Kim
       - damaging to your relationship
       - he'll know

   2. Tell Kim the truth
       + good partner rapport
       + he'll be easy on you

   3. Make something up
       - nightmare

YOU [SUCCESS] — “I had a premonition last night.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “About my notes?”

PERCEPTION — He’s tapping his foot. He’s onto us!

YOU — “Yes. Something’s not right with them.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Okay. Well. If you didn’t read them, may I have them back?”

YOU — “If you don’t mind stopping by my apartment really quick, then yeah.”

EMPATHY — He’s not disappointed in you, just inconvenienced. 

LOGIC — Stopping by your apartment is never *really quick*. It usually entails five stops, minimum.

PERCEPTION — Kim’s got his “I’m humoring you because I trust you” expression on.

DRAMA — “...so please don’t make me regret it” is the rest.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Sure. It’s on the way to our next destination - we’ll just make a stop on our way.”

SUGGESTION — Speaking of the next destination, you see Jean sitting at his desk. Go talk to him.

EMPATHY — He still has a headache. Be easy on him, it’s too early to raise his blood pressure.

YOU — “Mornin’, Vicky!”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He squints his eyes and glares at you. “*Vicky?*”

COMPOSURE — Is this like the Kimothy thing, or was that intentional?

RHETORIC — I think it was intentional. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Don’t call me that.”

EMPATHY — Thank God Mack and Chester aren’t here yet, Jean thinks. They’d never let that go.

YOU — “Kim said you wanted to go over notes?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “How'd the interrogation go?”

YOU — “Well, uh…”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Listen, man, I already told ya!” Kicking at the table does nothing for the kid, just frustrates him more. “I’m done talkin’. The other guy has all the notes.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “He told me you weren’t talking at all.” The kid sputters, then makes the motion to zip his lips shut and, after a second, flips you off, just to seal the deal. 

YOU — “It didn’t.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “I don’t think he’s worth a damn, anyway.” Flipping open his notebook, Jean turns to a page full of scribbled notes and a rough sketch of the rooftop, ink blurred from raindrops. “I ran into someone there and got some information from them.”

YOU — “Yeah?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Yeah. The victim, who his sister was able to identify as Raj Mossai, was living on the roof with no more than three other people. One was the kid I hauled in yesterday, who only told me his name was CJ.”

YOU — “Who pushed Raj.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Right. Between the time the body was reported, someone arrived on the scene and I got CJ, anything he had in his system was gone. Whatever Raj was doing, CJ wasn’t taking part. Someone else was there with them.”

YOU — “But you don’t know who the other two are?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “I might.” With a pen, he draws a circle on the page and then two dots. “I found a bag with two sets of clothes; recently worn, smelled like piss. Neither would’ve fit Raj or CJ.”

YOU — “Men’s or women’s clothes?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He looks away from you. “A child’s romper was among them.”

YOU — “Fucking hell. The other clothes?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “A worker’s jumpsuit, balled up and stuffed at the bottom. Looked into the company on the back - doesn’t exist anymore. Must’ve been thrifted somewhere.”

INLAND EMPIRE — There’s something here to say about the state of things in Jamrock, but you know it. It doesn’t need to be said, it just is.

YOU — “Who’d you talk to, then?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Someone who lived on the top floor. Told me the squatters would use a vacant apartment room on the floor.” Turning the page, Jean quickly sketches out a floor plan. “They told me the lock is broken and they’ve seen Raj and CJ coming in and out. I asked if they saw anyone else and they wouldn’t say. I’m going back over there in the afternoon.”

YOU — “And you didn’t get any names?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “They wanted to remain anonymous.” Closing his notebook, Jean shrugs. “Anything is helpful.” 

YOU — “Who was the other person?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What other person?”

YOU — “You said you talked to two people, right?”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “No. Just the one.”

YOU — “You said they told you about the squatters in the apartment.” Jean nods. “Who’s the other person?”

PERCEPTION — Frowning, Jean seems to be comparing what he’s said to what you’re saying and trying to make sense of it. For a split second, his face clears, then immediately looks pissed off.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “It was just the one,” he repeats, voice harsh. 

YOU — “But—”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “That’s all I have. Get back to your own case.” 

YOU — Stand there, flapping your mouth for a moment before Jean snaps at you to move it again. 

PAIN THRESHOLD — What crawled up his ass? 

LOGIC — Sorry we were just trying to be thorough.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Are you ready to go?” Waiting for you by your desk, Kim hands you your coat and then heads out towards the garage. 

VOLITION — You’re less likely to wander if you’re inside his Kineema. 

YOU — “Did you hear any of that talk with Jean?” 

KIM KITSURAGI — “I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping, but yes.” 

YOU — “Am I just stupid or was he not making sense?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “How do you mean?”

YOU — “He said he was talking to someone, right? A single person.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “That’s part of our job, yes.”

YOU — “But he kept saying *they* told him about what *they* saw and when I asked who the other person was, he got mad.” 

PERCEPTION — Ah! Kim’s making the same thought-realization-frown expression.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Ah. Khm. That’s a conversation for another time.”

EMPATHY — It’s too early to get into this. Please, just go grab the notes and focus on *this* case that you’re assigned to.

YOU — Kim remains in the Kineema while you run inside - score! - and find his notes. You convince him to grab coffee and go over them before heading over to the apartment. 

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — When you arrive, the phone line has been cut; presumably shortly after the call was made. 

YOU — What happened?

VISUAL CALCULUS [SUCCESS] — A pair of scissors, commonly used for sewing, snipped the wire. The caller will not return to this phone but wanted to ensure who they called will never call back. 

KIM KITSURAGI — “The caller mentioned a notebook that seems to have gone missing, but I don’t see any signs of ransacking.”

YOU — “He must’ve known exactly where to look and put things back.”

KIM KITSURAGI — Lifting the mattress, he’s peering under the bed to look for any hiding places.

LOGIC — Is that where he hides his personal journals at home?

PAIN THRESHOLD — Kim with a diary? He’s not a teenage girl. 

INLAND EMPIRE — Under the bed is a good hiding place. So is the toilet tank, behind the fridge, in a picture frame.

YOU — “Find anything?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Not yet. You?”

YOU — “I have a couple ideas.” 

KIM KITSURAGI — After he pokes around the bedroom some more, he catches you straddling the toilet and investigating the tank. 

RHETORIC — This might be a bad time to mention this, but that’s where you used to hide your coke when Jean used to help clean yourself up. In a baggie, of course. 

EMPATHY — You have a feeling Kim knows that as well but won’t mention it, only asks that you thoroughly wash your hands.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Good news is you managed to move the fridge enough to peer behind it without hurting yourself. Proud of you, champ. 

SAVOIR FAIRE — Unfortunately it yielded no results. Close, but no tar.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — “Close but no tar” is a phrase from the last century when tobacco was still deemed as healthy to give to children. A good cigarette was only given to those who succeeded at their tasks, with consolation prizes consisting of pieces of candy or small toys - a significantly lesser reward in comparison. 

YOU — That’s a bit fucked, isn’t it?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — You’ve been taking in tar longer than you can remember - not that you remember much - but the point is you also started young. Back when you did people’s homework in exchange for a fag. 

ENDURANCE — Smoking since childhood has only strengthened your lungs. Blackened with iron, I say!

LOGIC — Wrong.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Did you find anything back there?”

YOU — “Some self reflection.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “I see. Is it anything beneficial to the case?”

YOU — “No.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Let’s keep looking.”

INLAND EMPIRE — Not the bed, not the toilet, not the fridge. Check the picture frames.

YOU — Check the picture frames.

INTERFACING [FAILURE] — Your clumsy fingers are unable to open the backing on one of the photos and, with a frustrated grunt, it slips entirely and smashes on the hardwood.

YOU — “Shit!”

KIM KITSURAGI — “It’s alright, detective.” Squatting on his ankles, he starts collecting the glass in his gloved palm to dispose of. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “You need to be more careful.” On his knees, a young Jean-Heron Vicquemare, only a patrol officer, is collecting glass in his bare hands. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Shit, sorry.” Luckily, the coffee mug he had been holding was empty when you bumped into him and made him drop it. “Let me help.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “It’s fine. You were in a rush to do something - don’t let me hold you back.” From the floor, he gives you a polite smile. 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Yeah, alright. Thanks, kid.” You give him a signature wink and head back to your original destination, putting that interaction aside. At the time, you had no idea what he would become to you. 

EMPATHY — You still don’t.

KIM KITSURAGI — While you were lost in yourself, Kim threw away the broken glass and is waiting for you to come back.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — He has something else in his hands - a piece of paper!

KIM KITSURAGI — “Well, detective. Perhaps it was a good thing you dropped that frame.” 

VOLITION — Kim holds the paper out to you, giving you the honors.

   +1 MORALE

YOU — “Thank you, Kim.”

HIDDEN PIECE OF PAPER — Ripped from a journal, it has been folded over twice. Listed are a series of names, phone numbers and addresses.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Hm. What do you think?”

YOU —

   1. "A list of clients."

   2. "A hit list."

   3. "An address sheet."

KIM KITSURAGI — “I’m not sure our victim was of the assassinating type, but I can’t rule it out entirely. Unless our caller was missing *their* hit list…”

LOGIC — Unlikely, but not *implausible*.

YOU —

   1. "A list of clients."

   2. "A hit list."

   3. "An address sheet."

KIM KITSURAGI — “Clients? Of what nature?”

YOU — “The phone line was cut with a pair of sewing scissors. The victim might have done some alterations on the side, maybe has some debt to collect on.”

RHETORIC — Again, unlikely. 

KIM KITSURAGI — His eyesight isn’t good enough to catch those little details, so he jots it down in his notebook, taking your word for it. “Anything else?”

YOU —

   1. "A list of clients."

   2. "A hit list."

   3. "An address sheet."

KIM KITSURAGI — “Mm.” Looking over your shoulder, he starts copying the information down into his own notebook, writing less legible. “A convenient list for who to contact and how to reach them.”

YOU — “Do you think that’s what the caller was looking for?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “It’s a little bizarre to hide a contact list in a photo frame, so it must have some importance. Whether or not it was worthy of a break-in, we’ll just have to check it out ourselves.” Clicking his pen, he puts his notebook away, stands up straight and places his hands behind his back. “I think we’re done here, then.”

SUGGESTION — Just one more round.

YOU — “Just one more round.”

KIM KITSURAGI — He takes a step away, giving you the floor to poke around. 

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Why *that* photo? Is there anything hidden in any of the other frames?

HALF LIGHT — Since butterfingers fucked that up, maybe ask Kim to check the other frames. 

INTERFACING — Have you *seen* Harry’s fingers? Do you really think he could do something so delicate as open a frame?

YOU — I’m right here!

AUTHORITY — Yeah, actually, do you mind? We’re trying to talk here.

YOU — You can’t bully me, I made you up in my head. 

   -1 DAMAGED MORALE

YOU — Hey, what the fuck was that?

   -1 DAMAGED MORALE

YOU — Cut that out!

   -1 DAMAGED MORALE

YOU — “Fuck!” 

KIM KITSURAGI — “We can come back.” Giving you a small, sympathetic smile, he hands you the photograph and motions towards the door. “Come on, detective. Let’s get started on those interviews.”

JUDIT MINOT — As you and Kim roll back into the office, you see Judit pulling her patrol cloak on, ready to leave.

INLAND EMPIRE — At a bodega a few streets over, the cashier was just beaten and robbed - second incident this week. The first occurance wasn’t reported due to the nature of Jamrock, but as the young man tries to stop his bleeding nose, clutching a switchblade with slick hands, he’s now more worried for himself than protecting the store. 

RHETORIC — Not that his life is any more valuable than the store’s goods.

SUGGESTION — Despite knowing that, you still leave Kim’s side to talk to Judit before she heads out.

JUDIT MINOT — “Hello, Harry.” With her soft, patient, mother smile, you see her continue her routine - checking she has her badge, a pack of tissues, her gun, the umbrella that leans against her desk. “Can I help you with anything?"

YOU — “I wanted to apologize for earlier.”

JUDIT MINOT — “From yesterday?”

YOU — “Shit. Yeah. Yesterday.”

JUDIT MINOT — “It’s nothing to worry about, but I appreciate the apology.” She pats your arm once, twice, then drops it and grabs a note from her desk, with the store’s address and brief message. “We got a call to check out a robbery.”

YOU — “Are you taking someone with you?”

JUDIT MINOT — “Should I?” Her gaze turns sharp. You could tell her that the store’s been rigged with explosives and she needs full body armor and she would take your word for it and suit up.

EMPATHY — She trusts you, even with your insane rambles and outbursts. Even if you’ve hurt her - and others - in the past, she truly believes you’re doing better and wouldn’t intentionally harm her.

YOU — “Take a couple of the kids with you. Have you been downstairs? It’s like a goddamn sweatshop. Get them some fresh air, show ‘em the ropes, you know the drill. You might need more tissues than that.” 

JUDIT MINOT — With a knowing nod, she reaches in her desk, grabs a couple more packs and a schedule of who’s on shift, then smiles up at you. “I’ll get right on that, then.”

YOU — “Knock ‘em out, cadet.”

JUDIT MINOT — Giving you a mock salute, the small peek of teeth you see between her chapped lips are yellowing, but still shine with her charm. 

YOU — Salute her back, then return to Kim, who has pulled over a corkboard and begun pinning notes up. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What’s this about?” 

REACTION SPEED — Nosy asshole.

KIM KITSURAGI — “We found a list of names in our victim’s apartment.” With his pen, he points to the list, then draws it over to tacked scraps of paper with scrawled handwriting on them. “So far, we were only able to interview three of the seven, and one refused to talk with me present.” 

YOU — “He was *really* racist.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Mhm.” 

YOU — “Didn’t seem to know a damn thing, though. Said he’s never heard of our victim and didn’t know the RCM was still around, seeing as we do fuck all about the kids outside his apartment who don’t turn their music down.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — Rolling his eyes, he continues to read over your notes, hip cocked in thought.

HALF LIGHT — Tickle him.

AUTHORITY — What? No.

HAND-EYE COORDINATION — It’s *right* there. You know it. He won’t see it coming.

RHETORIC — It’ll be funny. Workplace camaraderie. 

EMPATHY [FAILURE] — It’ll cheer Jean up. He could use a good laugh.

YOU —

   1. Tickle Jean.
   2. Don't Tickle Jean.
   3. Does Kim see?

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — No. In fact, he’s too engrossed in conversation with Jean about your notes to even *consider* that you may be up to hooliganism. 

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Big mistake, Kimmo.

   1. Tickle Jean.
   2. Don't tickle Jean.
   3. Does Kim see?

YOU — With as little movement as possible, you lean forward and pinch Jean right above the curve of his hip, the softness of his relaxed stomach still squishy, even through the layers of clothes. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “*PUTAIN DE MERDE!*”

REACTION SPEED — Jean flinches away from your hand, then whips around and goes slap you but you’re faster, snatching his hand and startling him into a stop.

DRAMA [FAILURE] — Hm. Well. That sure is an expression.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — You’re unable to decipher it, but for a split second he looks betrayed, like you broke some intimate rule between you two.

PAIN THRESHOLD — Maybe something like ‘keeping our hands to ourselves at work’?

LOGIC — That’s actually highly probable. Oops.

YOU — Oops?

JEAN VICQUEMARE — Freeing himself from your grasp, he gives you a hard stare then turns to Kim, gives him a polite nod and storms off. 

YOU — Oops.

LOGIC — Yeah.

KIM KITSURAGI — With a sigh, Kim pinches the bridge of his nose. “Officer.”

AUTHORITY — Oh, now you really fucked up.

YOU — “I’m sorry, Kim.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “I’m not the one you owe an apology to.”

YOU — “Hrk.”

SAVOIR FAIRE — Come on, man, we *just* apologized to Judit. I get the whole Sorry Cop thing, but there’s only so much groveling you can do.

VOLITION — Go sit in the time-out corner. 

YOU — :(

PHYSICAL THRESHOLD — Don’t give us that shit. Go on, get.

YOU — You watch Kim go back to pinning notes up and studying them, making small changes and completely immersing himself in work. While he’s distracted, you sulk away, dragging your feet. 

COMPOSURE — No Kim… No Jean… No Judit…

SUGGESTION — There’s Mack and Chester. Hell, even Jules.

AUTHORITY — How about work, huh? Get something done?

HALF LIGHT — Hey, you know what you should do? Go check out that door again.

YOU — Door?

INTERFACING — Yes! The supply closet door. It’s been long enough, give it another go.

ENDURANCE — Not butterfingers over here giving suggestions.

YOU — Oh hell yes let’s go.

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — There it is, in all its locked glory. 

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Go get ‘em, champ. 

HALF LIGHT — We already tried the handle. Punch it.

PAIN THRESHOLD — Punch it.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — PUNCH IT.

YOU — (Punch it.)

   -1 HEALTH

KIM KITSURAGI — “Detective.”

YOU — Fuck!

SUGGESTION — We really can’t catch a break today. 

RHETORIC — Time out corner.

YOU — :( 

VOLITION — Stop that.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Might I suggest researching more from our list of names?”

EMPATHY — Translation: find something to do that is helpful to the case and quit fucking around. 

AUTHORITY — Or else.

YOU — Or else what?

ENDURANCE — You don’t want to know.

YOU — Gulp!

VISUAL CALCULUS — Don’t worry about it. We’ll find you something to work on. 

YOU — How’s my task list going?

YOU — Ugh. And my timer?

STEPPING ON EGGSHELLS — Coming around 26 more hours, chief. Not too shabby.

SUGGESTION — You know what kills time faster? Distracting yourself.

VOLITION — With work.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — With drugs.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Boredom is the first step on the road to relapse.” Bouncing a rubber ball against the wall, the rhythmic echo fills the office.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — From his desk, Jean Vicquemare looks up and frowns. “What are you on about?”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “I’m fucking bored, Vic. Slow days like this make me want to drink and spice it up, you know?” Catching the ball, you turn and make eye contact with him. “I *won’t* but I’m just *saying*.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “We need to find you a hobby or something.” Tapping his pen against his desk, Jean turns away from his work - he also finds it incredibly fucking boring, but was making an effort to *pretend* to be working.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Tried. Get bored too easily.” You toss the toy to Jean, who catches it and throws it back. You go back and forth a few times before he keeps it, trying to catch your gaze.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — He’s thinking something over, trying to find the right way to phrase it. After clearing his throat a couple times, he finds it in himself and pitches an idea to you of something to do.

YOU — … Yeah? And?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — There’s drugs, booze, girls—

YOU — No no, there was more to that memory. What did Jean want to do?

ESPRIT DE CORPS [FAILURE] — What story?

YOU — Come onnnnnn that’s not fair.

SAVOIR FAIRE — Not our fault you lost your memory.

YOU — Ugh. What the fuck ever. Let’s go do some goddamn police work and stop thinking.

YOU — (Find some goddamn police work.)

LOGIC — After digging a little deeper, you discovered your victim had a previous business partner - name number 5. However, name number 5 passed over a year ago, and the nature of the murder is unlikely from a supranatural killer, as much as it disappoints you.

INLAND EMPIRE — I’m not *saying* it’s completely improbable, but you don’t have the evidence to back it up.

YOU — We still haven’t found the murder weapon.

VISUAL CALCULUS — It was a kitchen knife, taken from the apartment kitchen. One was missing from the matching set of cutlery, but when you dusted there were no prints left, nor any clues as to what happened to it.

SUGGESTION — It’ll show up. These things always do, sooner or later.

REACTION SPEED — Motion in the edges of your eyes brings your attention back to the office, which has started to clear out.

HALF LIGHT — It’s quittin’ time! Hit the road, Jack.

KIM KITSURAGI — He’s standing in front of the board again, tapping his chin in thought. 

PERCEPTION (SIGHT) — His bottom lip is pouted out just slightly, and occasionally his teeth scrape against it. 

VOLITION — Deep in thought. Don’t disturb him.

YOU — Where’s Vic?

JEAN VICQUEMARE — Presently, he’s sitting at a restaurant with someone he’s interviewing. Taking them out of their environment and giving them a good meal, even if the food is on the lesser end of quality. Here, they’re more talkative, even if they continue to glance over their shoulder, as if being followed. After a while, Jean stopped trying to explain they weren’t - he understood the unnerving sensation of being watched and instead exchanged his seat so their back was to the wall.

YOU — Again with this ‘they’ shit. How many people is he with?

LOGIC — Just the one. 

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Much like people use she/her/hers or he/him/his pronouns, single individuals can use they/them/theirs pronouns. A neutral, genderless pronoun for those who don’t identify within the male-female binary. 

YOU — Huh?

RHETORIC — It’s not that complicated. Just open your mind up. 

HALF LIGHT — Get with the times, old man. Not everything’s black and white. Live in the now!

SUGGESTION — Gender? In *this* economy? 

ENCYCLOPEDIA — While it’s traditionally used in a plural sense, it is also used to refer to a single person. You’ve used it for people before, you may not just realize it. 

YOU — Have I?

RHETORIC — Indeed! For some reason, you seem to have a hard time wrapping your head around *this* specific context of it. But do not worry, we’re here to help!

YOU — I couldn’t even remember my own name, you think I’m ready to understand gender? 

DRAMA — Yet you conform to a gender binary, do you not? Look at you. 

YOU — What about me?

SAVOIR FAIRE — You may not be the best example, considering your knack for wearing clothes you find, regardless of how they flatter your masculinity or not. 

YOU — Find a better example, then.

COMPOSURE — Take Jean—

INLAND EMPIRE — Mm, no, not Jean. Another bad example.

YOU — What? Why?

INLAND EMPIRE [FAILURE] — Because.

VOLITION[FAILURE] — We.

SUGGESTION [FAILURE] — Said.

EMPATHY [FAILURE] — So.

COMPOSURE — What the fuck? That was creepy.

PERCEPTION (HEARING) — Outside, a horn blares, followed by some yelling and swearing at a pedestrian who walked right into the street, not paying attention. It does, however, startle you out of your thoughts.

HALF LIGHT — Come on, man. Let’s blow this joint. Go home, jerk off, go to bed. Doesn’t that sound like fun?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Or. Or. We could rub one out right here at our desk.

YOU — Kim’s right there.

ENDURANCE — Even better! You know you want to.

SAVOIR FAIRE — No, remember this morning? You have a stupid dick that doesn’t work.

YOU — Oh, that’s right. Thanks for the reminder. 

SAVOIR FAIRE — Anytime, pal.

YOU — (Start collecting your stuff to go home and try not to pout too much about your stupid dick.)

REACTION SPEED [FAILURE] — It’s not like everyone doesn’t already know, but you keep it to yourself this time.

YOU >— “I’m heading out, Kim.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Hm? Ah.” He glances down at his watch. “It’s much later than I realized. Would you care to go over our notes together before you leave?”

YOU — “Sure, as long as you don’t care I have a stupid dick.”

KIM KITSURAGI — He’s unphased by the statement. With his single cigarette, lighter and notebook, he begins walking towards the fire escape, where you trail behind.

SHIVERS — Welcome home, Harry. 

AUTHORITY — Leaning against the railing, the two of you go over your day together - the transcripts, the apartment, the list of names, the interviews and Kim’s board. You make plans for tomorrow and enjoy a moment of silence together.

YOU — “Kim, I have a question.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “You always do.”

YOU — “What exactly was it you wanted me to can open Jean about?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Hm.” Looking out at the Jamrock skyline, Kim exhales a thin strip of smoke between his lips. “I don’t want to make any assumptions, but I have this hunch.”

YOU — “But you won’t tell me.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “No.” His eyes smile at your frustration. 

YOU — “Do you remember, earlier, when Jean was mad at me?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Because you pinched him during our conversation.”

YOU — “Tickled. I *tickled* him. But I mean before then, when he was talking about his case.”

KIM KITSURAGI — You see his forehead crease when he raises his eyebrows, urging you to continue. 

DRAMA [FAILURE] — Like you weren’t going to babble on, regardless.

YOU — “The whole, uh…” you try and fail to talk with your hands. Kim does not seem to be following along.

LOGIC — Do you really want to ask about this?

YOU — If anyone knows about this, it’s Kim. He’s smart. And gay.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Gender identity and sexual orientation are two separate things. While the two may overlap, you shouldn’t assume just because Kim is a homo-sexual he knows *everything* about queer culture.

YOU — “What do you know about gender?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Is this another thought project of yours?”

YOU — “Not yet.”

KIM KITSURAGI — That gets a little chuckle out of him. “Alright. What would you like to know?”

YOU — “There’s more than just men and women?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Mhm.”

YOU — “Oh. Okay.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Was that really all you had to ask?”

YOU — “No, but I think that’s too much for me to get into tonight.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Agreed. It’s too late to really delve into the complicated subject of gender identity.”

YOU — “Is it really that complicated?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Knowing your tendency to ask questions and go down rabbit holes, yes.”

YOU — “Yeah okay.” You look down to the street. Trash tumbles down the sidewalk with the wind, only to get sucked into the gutters. “Why do you think Vic was so pissed off about it?”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Who knows?” He’s finished his cigarette and, like you, would like to go home now. 

YOU — For a few moments longer, you remain staring at the city, watching over her from your home of the old silk mill.

SHIVERS — Thank you.

KIM KITSURAGI — “Let’s go, detective. I’ll drive you home.”

YOU — “Nah. I’ll walk.”

KIM KITSURAGI — “Suit yourself. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” 

YOU — The two of you walk back to your desks, gather your belongings and walk out together, where you part ways. 

RHETORIC — Back at your actual home that you pay for, it’s just as you left it.

REACTION SPEED — That is, as in a mess and stale. 

ENDURANCE — The window requires a little oomph, but you get it open and let a breeze in, then whip yourself something to eat and have a cigarette. 

DRAMA — But you’re thinking about your conversations with Jean, provided with a new perspective. 

VOLITION — You’ll give yourself a headache. Worry about that tomorrow. 

YOU — Dragging your feet, you finish your nightly routine and lay in bed. Naturally, sleep doesn’t come easily to you, and you do seriously consider giving jacking off another go but can’t conjure up anything sexy enough to get you started, so you *definitely* won’t finish.

INLAND EMPIRE — Your stupid penis would like to apologize for, well, not really working like you’d like it to. 

YOU — It’s okay. 

YOU — (Close your eyes and wait until you eventually fall asleep.)

Chapter Text

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Good morning, Harrier. You’re about to wake up earlier than usual. Would you like to wake up pleasantly?

YOU — Why is that a question? Of course I’d like to wake up pleasantly. That sounds fucking fantastic.

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Coming right up, sir.

INLAND EMPIRE — Beneath you, the sheets are warm. Your blanket has kept you safe throughout the night. Your underarms aren’t all that sweaty, either, but I wouldn’t skip the shower this morning. 

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Actually, since we’re up early, why not hit the gym? Nothing like an after workout shower at the start of the day.

YOU — Is there any reason I’m up early?

COMPOSURE — Nothing to worry about. Enjoy the extra time this morning.

LOGIC — You’re going to need it.

YOU — What time is it?

VOLITION — 06:32. A little under an hour before your alarm. 

STEPPING ON EGGSHELLS — You have 11:28 hours left to this thought. 

YOU — Fuck, I almost forgot about that. Shit. That’s tonight, isn’t it?

EMPATHY — Don’t forget. This is more important than you know.

YOU — (Get up, get dressed, get started.)

ENCYCLOPEDIA — While the sun has yet to fully rise, the city lights and layer of pollution will always give the city some glow. Headlights from passing motor carriages, buses and windows of those waking up - or going to bed - illuminate your jog to the station gym. 

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Home. 

ENDURANCE — Do some stretches, first. You might not *think* you need to, but you do. 

PAIN THRESHOLD — You also got shot, if you forgot. You can’t lift weights like you used to with that shoulder. 

YOU — (Start warming up.)

PERCEPTION (HEARING) — The door closing causes you to lift your head, and you make eye contact with Jean Vicquemare, gym bag slung over his shoulder and stopped in his tracks.

COMPOSURE — He does not look happy at this development. 

REACTION SPEED — Don’t engage. Pretend you didn’t see him. Continue as you were.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He follows the same advice and goes about his routine in what could almost be considered companionable silence. 

EMPATHY — Please, please don’t bother me, he thinks. Not in the mood.

HALF LIGHT — Is he ever? 

YOU — How am I supposed to make out with him if he doesn’t want to talk?

LOGIC — Make up with him, you mean.

YOU — That’s what I said.

DRAMA — That’s what he said!

ENDURANCE — Sure. Just keep doing those stretches, bud. 

YOU — (Continue stretching and not think about Jean.)

EMPATHY — That’d be nice. However, he’s thinking about you, whether he means to or not. 

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — You just take up so much space, everywhere you are. 

SHIVERS — You occupy a bit of room in the mind of every person you run into. 

YOU —

   1. Say something.
   2. Don't say something.
   3. Leave.

RHETORIC — And go do what? You still work together; you’ll have to talk to him eventually.

YOU —

   1. Say something.
   2. Don't say something.
   3. Leave.

YOU — “Uhm.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What?”

YOU —

   1. Apologize.

YOU — That’s it? What’s the point of having options if there’s only one?

SUGGESTION — Fine, sorry.

YOU —

   1. Apologize.
      - long overdue
      - he doesn't want to talk to you

   2. Apologize.
      - you don't know what you're apologizing for
      - he's tired of your apologies

   3. Apologize.
      - nothing you can say will help
      - nothing you can do will help

YOU — That’s not fair.

SUGGESTION — You weren’t satisfied with the one, so now you have to pick.

YOU — 

   1. Apologize.
      - long overdue
      - he doesn't want to talk to you

   2. Apologize.
      - you don't know what you're apologizing for
      - he's tired of your apologies

   3. Apologize.
      - nothing you can say will help
      - nothing you can do will help

YOU [FAILURE] — “Jean, I…”

   1. Apologize.
      - long overdue
      - he doesn't want to talk to you

   2. Apologize.
      - you don't know what you're apologizing for
      - he's tired of your apologies

   3. Apologize.
      - nothing you can say will help
      - nothing you can do will help

YOU [FAILURE] — “I, uhm…”

   1. Apologize.
      - long overdue
      - he doesn't want to talk to you

   2. Apologize.
      - you don't know what you're apologizing for
      - he's tired of your apologies

   3. Apologize.
      - nothing you can say will help
      - nothing you can do will help

YOU [FAILURE] — “Hh.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What? What do you want? Out with it.”

YOU —

   1. Apologize.

YOU — “I’m sorry, Jean.”

YOU —

   1. Apologize.

YOU — “I’m sorry.”

YOU — (Look Jean in the eyes.)

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He isn’t meeting your gaze, but he’s listening. 

YOU — “I don’t know what I’m apologizing for and I know my apologies don’t mean anything to you, but I’m sorry.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What the fuck are you talking about?”

YOU — “I’m not sure.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Then don’t just say shit if you don’t mean it!”

YOU — “I do mean it! I’ll prove it to you.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “And just how do you plan on doing that?”

YOU — “Let me take you out. I can show you I’m a better person now and we can start on a new page.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “That doesn’t magically make me forget everything else. I don’t care about this *new* you, Harry. It doesn’t change the fact I spent — no, I *wasted* five fucking years as your partner that you don’t even remember!” 

YOU — “Jean, please. Talk to me.”

EMPATHY — He rolls his eyes and laughs to himself, incredulous. He’s heard all this before. The begging, the promises, the apologies. This time I’ll be different, one more chance, you have to believe me.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Your last chance? Real rich, motherfucker. If I had a centim for every time I heard that, I wouldn’t still have this fucking job!” 

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Jean, baby, stop yelling.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Don’t call me that! Get up, I can’t stand you groveling. It’s pathetic.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “I’ll get up when you take me back.”

ESPRIT DE CORPS — “Take you back? Without me, you’d have nowhere else to go. Come on, get your shit together, we’re going home.”

EMPATHY — Not *your apartment.* Not *his place.* You’re going *Home.* 

INLAND EMPIRE — A home you cannot return to. A home you misplaced the keys to.

SHIVERS — He leaves the door unlocked, waiting for you. 

YOU — “Tonight. We’ll go out. After work. We can talk about it.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Talk about what? There’s nothing to talk about.”

YOU — “Anything. Everything. I can just listen. I want us to be close again. Fuck, bring the entire unit if you don’t want to be alone with me.” 

AUTHORITY — Have the whole team witness your humiliation? 

VOLITION — It’ll be humbling. Show everyone you fuck up too.

RHETORIC — You do much more than fuck up, buddy. 

HALF LIGHT — You ripped the unit a new hole and fucked them through it. It’s going to take more than a little public humiliation to make things right.

EMPATHY — Having others around might help Jean ebb his temper. Everyone is already familiar with his outbursts but maybe, just maybe, he’ll behave a little better if put in the right setting. 

LOGIC — Such as a bar with your coworkers. 

DRAMA — If you bring Kim, Jean’ll be on his *best* behavior. 

YOU — Wait, why Kim?

SAVOIR FAIRE — Have you not noticed how much Jean craves praise from those he respects? 

AUTHORITY — Plus, with his eyebrow alone, Kim can put Jean back in his place.

YOU — I don’t want to use Kim like that.

COMPOSURE — It *was* Kim’s idea to can-open Jean. He could help a little.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “What, you want the entire MCU to give you— a what, a fucking intervention about your behavior?”

YOU — “No, not like that. We can celebrate a tough week, right? Everyone’s been working on hard cases.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “None of them have been *solved* yet, dipshit. They’re all still ongoing. Too early to celebrate.”

YOU — “Celebrate surviving another fucking week, I don’t know, Jean. Toss me a goddamn bone, will ya?”

INLAND EMPIRE — His face will stick if he keeps frowning like that.

PAIN THRESHOLD — The damage is already done for him. Those frown lines never had a chance. 

PERCEPTION (HEARING) — You hear him mumbling to himself. *Not this again* and *every time* and *if only.*

LOGIC — But he hasn’t said *no.*

RHETORIC — Trying to rationalize it.

EMPATHY — He wants to say yes, he really does, but has patched up the walls you tore down and is unwilling to let you even *near* them. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “If you can convince everyone else to join and - *AND* - promise to stay sober, then I’ll go. But if you so much as fucking *think* about touching a bottle, we’re through.”

ENDURANCE — How many times has he said that to you? Pulling you out of the gutters, wrestling a bottle out of your hands with your knuckles bloodied and raw?

YOU — “I will, Jean.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Promise me.”

DRAMA — He’s had too many promises broken to believe you, but he wants to hear it. Just to imagine it’ll be real, this time.

YOU — “I promise.”

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Inside of him, a small spark of joy. Remembering a better time. 

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “Are we done here? I wanted to get a run in.”

ENDURANCE — A run? Get out there, Harry. That’d be good for you.

HALF LIGHT — Beat his ass. Leave him in the dust.

JEAN VICQUEMARE — “I’m not going to fucking race you, if that’s what you’re thinking. If you manage to injure yourself I’m not going to be the one dragging you back here.” 

YOU — “You’re just jealous you’ll lose.”

JEAN VICQUEMARE — He rolls his eyes and looks at you for a second longer before checking his watch and walking out of the gym without another word.

PHYSICAL INSTRUMENT — Jean’s always had bad form. Track and field was never his specialty, mainly focusing on upper body strength. He can chase a suspect down like a hound on the hunt but looks like he’s not used to his legs. 

ENDURANCE — Unlike other officers, Jean doesn’t work out to be prepared for any altercations.

PAIN THRESHOLD — He sure can pack a punch, but that’s not why he trains. 

YOU — Because he’s a narcissist? 

SUGGESTION — Where’d you get that idea from?

YOU — If not for work or for any ladies, then he has to be working out for himself.

COMPOSURE — Ladies?

YOU — Sorry. Ladies or guys or whatever.

COMPOSURE [FAILURE] — You don’t know if Jean gets any ladies or guys or *whatever* because he doesn’t tell you shit, Harry. You don’t even know who - or what - Jean is into, anyway. 

HALF LIGHT — And where are *your* ladies, Harry? Exactly. You need to start really bulking up again, and then the women will come flocking to you.

YOU — My body is fine how it is.

ENDURANCE [FAILURE] — Uh huh.

YOU — Plenty of people like me for who I am, even if it’s a little pudgy in the middle. Kim likes my biceps.

REACTION SPEED — Right, and if you ever mention that to him, he won’t speak to you. 

YOU — Seriously? I was hoping I could milk some more compliments out of him.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — What’s this about milking Kim??

AUTHORITY — Poor choice of words. Moving on.

PERCEPTION (SMELL) — Enough time has passed between arriving, doing some exercises, talking to Jean and then thinking about Jean that you should get started on that shower situation. People will be more likely to accept your invitation to go out if you don’t smell.

YOU — (Go!)

RHETORIC — And do what? You can’t just say ‘go’ and expect us to know what you’re talking about.

REACTION SPEED — Pick something to focus on.

INTERFACING — Psst… the supply door is open again. I can prove myself this time. I prommy.

HALF LIGHT — Shut the fuck up.

INTERFACING — :( 

YOU — Hey! Only I’m allowed to do that!

AUTHORITY — Anyway. What’ll it be, Harry boy?

YOU —

   1. Ask around the office about Jean.
   2. Investigate supply closet door.
   3. Take a shower.
   4. Invite the MCU out.

PERCEPTION — We literally just talked about how people won’t want to go out with you if you smell and you want to skip that step? For once, there was a *right* answer to this and you missed it.

VOLITION — Try again.

YOU —

   1. Ask around the office about Jean.
   2. Investigate supply closet door.
   3. Take a shower.
   4. Invite the MCU out.

SAVOIR FAIRE — Once you’re nice and clean, no one will want to say no to you. Chop-chop!

YOU — Shower it is, then.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Rock and roll, baby boy. Suds up, get dressed and give ‘em the ole’ razzle dazzle. 

YOU — (Go!)

Chapter Text

LIMBIC SYSTEM — Well well well, if it isn't my good friend Harry.

YOU — Why are you here?

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN — Why are any of us?

YOU — Oh goddamnit not you too.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN — The lack of respect is appalling.

YOU — You two only show up when I'm sleeping or dying.

LIMBIC SYSTEM — We're all dying though, aren't we?

LIMBIC SYSTEM — Very... very... slowly.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN — Also, you typically don't sleep. You just close your eyes until you decide to open them again.

YOU — Great. I'm currently doing neither of those things so go away.

LIMBIC SYSTEM — Aren't you curious about what we have to say?

YOU — No. I was doing something.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN — And what was that?

   1. Living.
   2. Dying.
   3. Secret Third Thing.

LIMBIC SYSTEM — There is no secret third thing, you troglodyte!

   1. Living.
   2. Dying.
   3. Secret Third Thing.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN — Sure, you're alive, but are you really *living*? You're just going through the motions. You've only living because that's all you know how to do.

   1. Living.
   2. Dying.
   3. Secret Third Thing.

LIMBIC SYSTEM — As we all are. The party comes to an end eventually.

   1. Living.
   2. Dying.
   3. Secret Third Thing.
   4. Enough (continue).

YOU — Enough fucking around. I have a task to do.

LIMBIC SYSTEM — We're just the voices in your head, silly boy. You're the one keeping us here.

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN — And we'll keep responding as long as you keep the conversation going.

   1. Continue conversation.
   2. End conversation.
   3. Begin new conversation.

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Finally! I hate those guys.

SUGGESTION — What a joke of a duo.

RHETORIC — They probably don't have a routine.

YOU — This isn't much better.

VOLITION [FAILURE] — Of course it is. Now there's *23* voices in your head.

REACTION SPEED — 23? That's not right.

LOGIC — There should be 24. Are we missing someone?

AUTHORITY — Let's take roll.

YOU — Can you guys not?

AUTHORITY — Everyone, sound off.

YOU — FUCK!

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Good fucking Lord what is going on here?

ENDURANCE — There he is, the bookworm. Fun's over.

ENCYCLOPEDIA — Sorry to have ruined your game of dealing physic damage to Harry but you lot are unbelievable. Have you no shame?

COMPOSURE — Need I remind you we are just voices in Harry's head? Aspects of his fragmented mind, split 24 different ways?

PAIN THRESHOLD — I don't think Harry can take any more brain damage.

HALF LIGHT — There's no brain left to fry!

YOU — I'm right here.

CONCEPTUALIZATION — Yeah, actually, do you mind? It's hard to think when you're interrupting.

YOU — That's not how this works!

COMPOSURE — Again, I feel inclined to mention Harry is doing this to himself.

DRAMA — Me thinks he enjoys the torment. It would not surprise me to know our beloved is a masochist!

PAIN THRESHOLD — That's what papa's here for. We can take a good spanking.

YOU — ENOUGH!! Can we get back to the fucking plot?

AUTHORITY — It's big man's turn to speak now. Go on.

YOU — Why *are* you all here? Usually there's something to trigger your presence. Am I having a stroke?

ELECTROCHEMISTRY — Sure, we can have a stroke!

Composure — You know that's not what he meant.

AUTHORITY — We also know for a fact he cannot have a stroke.

YOU — Great. Thanks. So what the hell is actually going on?

INLAND EMPIRE — Do you want the short story or the long story?

   1. Short story.
   2. Medium story.
   3. Long story.
   4. The *really* long story.

VOLITION — Seriously? Do we have time for this?

LOGIC [FAILURE] — Yup. Let's hear it.

VISUAL CALCULUS — Alright. About 50-odd years ago, on a dirty cot, a woman writhes in pain. It was the only bed available but the nurses try their best to appease her with the limited resources they have. Unfortunately, her tolerance was far too high and none of the physicians present felt comfortable giving her anything more than they had already injected into her.

VISUAL CALCULUS — But, if nothing else, she was a fighter.

VISUAL CALCULUS — With her teeth grit, a scream held back with her tongue, she clutched onto the hand of a nurse practitioner who was develop bruises from the force and, with sweat dripping down her face, bore a son.

VISUAL CALCULUS — Before they could take him away to clean, she insisted on wanting to hold him, to touch him, to see he was real. The result of months of hardships in the reddened face of a wailing newborn. As he squirmed against her bosom, she looked at him and the ache ebbed away upon the touch of a child. Living proof it was worth it. It didn't make the world right or just, there were still hardships to face - without a father in the home as well, life was going to become significantly more difficult - but she breathed life into this boy and he into her.

DRAMA — Brava! Brava! What a gorgeous image. The single mother, weeping with her child, surrounded by the pitiful life she has found herself in but is now given a second chance to try for a better future, for herself, for Harry.

VISUAL CALCULUS — What? No, that's not Harry.

VISUAL CALCULUS — That was Harry's old brother, who would die only hours later. Never given a name, never buried. Aside from that moment, he never really existed. Slipped into the crevices of time and memory.

YOU — Well that was really fucking depressing and a waste of time.

HALF LIGHT — That's what you get for picking the *really* long story.

YOU — Fast forward to the important stuff.

VISUAL CALCULUS — Sorry for not knowing what you consider 'important.' Just trying to help.

EMPATHY — As of a year ago this time, you were on your way to a promotion, which you would decline. You earned your status as a double yefreitor. Jean got a promotion as well, thanks to you, but it offered him no new title officially. He had already been doing the work of someone higher than his rank and it would continue to go unrewarded but long nights with you produced results and he would take that over a raise.

EMPATHY — As of a month ago, you were helping complete Kim's transfer to Precinct 41, C-Wing's Major Crimes Unit. Nix had put you on medical leave - for your gunshot wounds, retrograde amnesia and withdrawals - but you insisted on showing up, anyway. Just to be in everyone's way.

EMPATHY — As of a week ago, you've been on the up and up. Cases weren't being closed at nearly the same rate they had been but were getting done. The team developed a safety plan to make sure you weren't going to return to working yourself half to death but you haven't given them any cause of concern.

ENDURANCE — *Yet.*

YOU — Can we break down this last week?

ENCYCLOPEDIA — You could've just said you wanted a recap. Literally said it just like that and we could've saved a lot of time.

YOU — Shut up, bookworm.

HALF LIGHT — OOOOOOOO. Got 'im.

Encyclopedia — Real mature. Fine. Let's recap. Where do you want to start?

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Kim been up to?
   4. What has Judit been up to?
   5. What has Mack been up to?
   6. What has Chester been up to?
   7. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

REACTION SPEED — You wanted a recap, so we're doing a recap. Now pick.

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Kim been up to?
   4. What has Judit been up to?
   5. What has Mack been up to?
   6. What has Chester been up to?
   7. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

ESPRIT DE CORPS — Alright. Let's start with Chester.

ESPRIT DE CORPS — Satellite-Officer Chester McClaine—

Rhetoric — We don't need the *whole* story, just the highlights.

esprit de corps — I'm setting the scene.

drama — Please, spare us the theatrics.

savoir faire — Did you really just say that? *You*?

esprit de corps — So, Chester.

esprit de corps — This past week, Chester has been working on some crime activity in the Pox. Juveniles, gangs, a stabbing - the usual. A child suffered a heart attack after being stabbed, turning the case from assault to homicide. Chester's been updating the paperwork and contacting interviewees.

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Kim been up to?
   4. What has Judit been up to?
   5. What has Mack been up to?
   6. What has Chester been up to?
   7. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

esprit de corps — Mack, also working that case, has been doing the interviews, revisiting the crime scenes, threatening some of the juves involved. More of the same. Jokes will be made about his bald head that he still gets really sensitive about but what do you expect when trying to talk to teens?

esprit de corps — "Bowling ball looking ass pig!" "Bald headass!"

esprit de corps — Chester, the satellite at his side, schools his expression and is professional. He does not laugh. Once they're out of earshot of the kids, though, Chester says a lot of things he thinks are jokes but are more or less just repeating the comment. He tried to get Jean on board for buying a bowling ball and making it look like Mack but Jean wasn't going to entertain him.

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Kim been up to?
   4. What has Judit been up to?
   5. What has Mack been up to?
   6. What has Chester been up to?
   7. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

esprit de corps — Presently, both of her children have caught a cold from a classmate and she's trying to care for them while not getting it herself. She's been obsessively washing her hands today and it's drying them out.

psychical instrument — Don't you worry about that. You never get sick. Your immune system is a steel wall against any influenza or antibodies. Impenetrable.

esprit de corps — Otherwise, she's taken to hanging out with some of the newer patrol officers, showing them the ropes. There's currently little on her docket for her to do right now, waiting on messages to be returned and forms to be sent over.

esprit de corps — Nothing conclusive came from that convenience store incident, for what it's worth. While he obviously knew who attacked him, the clerk refused to provide any details and asked the report be discarded entirely. Judit processed it as a robbery, omitting the altercation and reporting damages unknown. The employee plans on quitting after he's sure his pay won't be docked for the lost inventory.

reaction speed — It will but he's been stealing from the till enough that he's lucky it'll just be the inventory deduction.

authority — I'm going to pretend we didn't hear that last part.

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Kim been up to?
   4. What has Judit been up to?
   5. What has Mack been up to?
   6. What has Chester been up to?
   7. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

esprit de corps — Kim is still trying to get his bearings about being with the 41st. He's adapted well overall but still finds himself falling into old habits.

esprit de corps — Turning left at the bottom of the stairs instead of right. Forgetting the second urinal is the one that splashes back. Getting locked out of the balcony because the door jams and he doesn't know how to jimmy it the right way to dislodge it.

empathy — He'll learn, in time. Change always takes some time to get used to.

esprit de corps — Presently he's looking over notes again, trying to make a timeline of events, trying to fill in some of the blanks. From the list you procured from the picture frame, you've interviewed three of the seven; of the other four, one was deceased - you verified this with a coroner's report - and another had moved, trying to find a new address. The other two just weren't home when you came around.

esprit de corps — There will be more on that, later. You have an actual job to do, in case you forgot.

YOU — Yeah, yeah. Job schmob.

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Kim been up to?
   4. What has Judit been up to?
   5. What has Mack been up to?
   6. What has Chester been up to?
   7. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

esprit de corps — Aside from hitting a wall with his own case, Jean's been fine.

YOU — ... that's it? Just fine?

esprit de corps — Yep. Just fine.

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Maddox been up to?
   4. What has Kim been up to?
   5. What has Judit been up to?
   6. What has Mack been up to?
   7. What has Chester been up to?
   8. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

logic — Who?

YOU — I don't know why I said that. I don't know who Maddox is.

visual calculus — █████████ ████████, simply known as Maddox, is a 19-year-old that Jean has been spending time with. It started with a couple interviews but has turned into a regular thing, if for no other reason than to see a new face for a change.

YOU — Oh, so Jean's got a girlfriend? That's cool.

reaction speed — No, you fucking idiot. Are you even listening?

rhetoric — Repeat what was just said.

YOU — Jean's got a girlfriend?

pain threshold — I wish I could throttle you.

   1. What have I been up to?
   2. What has Jean been up to?
   3. What has Maddox been up to?
   4. What has Kim been up to?
   5. What has Judit been up to?
   6. What has Mack been up to?
   7. What has Chester been up to?
   8. Wow, that's a lot. Is this all necessary?

ANCIENT REPTILIAN BRAIN — You, my boy? You've been through it all. Hit the ground running and never stopped.

LIMBIC SYSTEM — Burnt rubber never smelled so good.

YOU — Okay can you guys stop this I think I'm actually going to have a panic attack. You guys can't keep crossing over like this.

authority — Let's finish this up, then.

esprit de corps — You, Harry, have been trying to reconnect. Kim asked you to can open Jean and it hasn't been your best work yet but it's getting there. Slowly but surely you are cracking away at Jean's walls and worming your way back in, ready or not.

esprit de corps — Your last interaction with Jean went as such:

drama — "Bluh bluh I'm a huge bitch." "No you aren't Jean you're my best friend!" "You're right Harry, you always were." And then you kissed.

YOU — Is this true?

drama — Do you wish it so?

YOU — Uhm. Can I get back to you on that?

rhetoric — So that's a yes. Duly noted.

esprit de corps — Last we saw of you, Harry, you were on your way to take a shower after a refreshing early morning workout at the precinct gym and then you were going to turn on your charm and invite the team out.

STEPPING ON EGGSHELLS — And you have about 11 hours until the Big Moment.

YOU — 11 hours? That's it? Feels like I've been standing around for, I don't know, a year.

endurance — Time flies when you're having fun.

reaction speed — In actuality, you've just been standing in the shower stall, spacing out. Your skin is pruning and uncomfortable and your hair is already dry at this point. Occasionally, while in this little episode, you've been verbally responding to parts of this conversation. Just so you know.

YOU — "What? No I haven't."

rhetoric [FAILURE] — No he hasn't.

pain threshold — I second the notion of getting out of the shower. A man shouldn't spend this long washing. What are you, gay?

YOU — There's nothing wrong with skin care!

perception — It's a moot point at this stage but it's your body. You *are* hogging the water, though.

logic — That is true. It's gone cold but you've been too preoccupied with your voices to notice.

reaction speed — YIKES! That's cold.

YOU — (Shut off the water and shiver.)

interfacing — Atta boy. Butterfingers no more!

suggestion — Now, let's get a move on, detective.

rhetoric — We've got a job to do.

SAVOIR FAIRE — People to impress.

shivers — A bond to reconnect.

YOU — (Go!)